Should Smoking Be Banned or Taxed?

We have all been there in line waiting to purchase something from the store; we step up for our turn take out money that we believe should be enough only to find out that we forgot to count in the taxes and now have to dig into our purse, wallet or pocket to find the extra change, or in some cases dollars. There is a joke that there are a few things we are guaranteed in life, taxes and death. While it may be a joke it holds a fair amount of truth, depending on where you live. Taxes are everywhere “invisible” or obvious taxes, but lets focus more closely on the taxes involving cigarettes. To me as a non smoker it makes sense and I am for it, taxes help the governments budget and other areas. However one must begin to wondered the effects taxes on one of the biggest markets in the United States have, for those who do smoke and those who enjoy an, excuse my banter, but live shaver.

Smoking tobacco has been in existence for thousands of years. For most of its existence smoking has been acceptable, tolerable, and permitted in our mainstream society. In recent years, smoking tobacco has been under scrutiny. Smoking bans have been introduced to restrict smokers from smoking in public and private places. For example, restaurants, bars, hotels, parks, and beaches throughout the United States have established the bans against public smoking. I discovered this has significance as it affects society because smoking has been a staple for thousands of years and is now being questioned whether or not smoking should be permissible. As a non-smoker this affects me personally because of the health issues and death of my family

Smoking is an addictive practice which entails inhaling and exhaling smoke from burning tobacco leaves. In the last 15 years extensive research and shocking statistics have demonstrated the adverse effects smoking can have on pregnant mothers and their babies. Currently, "smoking cigarettes is the No. 1 cause of adverse outcomes for babies” (WebMed.com, 2013). Banning cigarettes may seem the most effective way of stopping pregnant mothers from smoking; however, doing this would deprive pregnant women of their freedom and rights. This raises the question: “Should pregnant smokers be banned from buying and smoking cigarettes during their pregnancy?”

Smoking is an expensive habit. People who smoke cigarettes can spend as much as $2,500 a year on them (Singletary). Smoking is a practice in which a substance, most commonly tobacco or cannabis, is burned and the smoke is tasted or inhaled. The most common method of smoking today is through cigarettes. Cigarettes remain primarily industrially manufactured, but they can be hand-rolled from loose tobacco and paper. Today we are more aware on how bad smoking is for our well-being. Smoking causes health problems, negative effects on physical appearance, and reduces athletic performance. Smoking should be banned because it has been revealed to be harmful to the human body.

Smoking causes health problems for everyone around the world, not just people near smokers. Most people know that smoking can cause countless health problems; a group of scientists conducted a study showing the effects of secondhand smoke in nonsmokers. The scientists knew in 2004 that, on a worldwide scale, the health concerns created by exposure to tobacco smoke for nonsmokers were not well known. They tested people and found the effects from worldwide exposure in children and adults, and these statistics have probably risen in the past ten years (Öberg, Jaakkola, Woodward, Peruga, Prüss-Ustün). They found that “Worldwide, 40% of children, 33% of male non-smokers, and 35% of female non-smokers were exposed to second-hand smoke in 2004. This exposure was estimated to have caused 379,000 deaths from ischaemic heart disease,”- also known as

The United States Surgeon General’s report stated that cigarette smoking is the major single cause of cancer death in the United States. This statement is so true today. Smoking a cigarette is an acquired behavior and that makes it the most preventable cause of death in our society. Cigarettes contain nicotine, tar, and carbon monoxide, as well as formaldehyde, ammonia, hydrogen cyanide, arsenic, and DDT. The main ingredient in cigarettes is tobacco. The nicotine in cigarettes is very addictive and when smoke containing nicotine is inhaled into the lungs, the nicotine reaches your brain in less than six seconds. Addiction to nicotine also poses very serious health risks. With all the toxic ingredients contained in cigarettes cigarette smoking is not only harmful to smokers but to nonsmokers. When you are smoking a cigarette you are not the only one being harmed so cigarette smoking should be banned because it is harmful to those smoking and those who chose not to.

Trying different things with smoking as a rule happens in the early adolescent years, often times in high school were students like me, often succumb to the peer pressure. This is often driven transcendently by psychosocial thought process. For me, as a “beginner” in high school, smoking cigarette’s was a typical demonstration of passing on a message, that I was no longer a child. Yet, I also think that I was trying to “fit in” to what I perceived to be a “cool kid.” I was essentially trying to change my persona because I was often time the kid who was picked on or considered a nerd or a geek.

According to Ohio University president MacDavis from a 2015 Ohio University “We will join more than 1,000 campuses nationwide who ban the use of tobacco on their campuses,”(Lee). And in order to make the campus area healthy and encourage the smoker’s to quit smoking, Ohio University decides to ban the smoking on any campus property. Beside of that, the University campus will follow Smoke and Tobacco-Free Initiative policy in August 2015. Therefore, the policy will impose by using "a community model”. That means each member at Ohio University would remain any smoker with the policy. Moreover, Ohio University hopes Ohio campus becomes healthier and without tobacco. But, through this policy lots of members whose smoking in Ohio University campus will be affected.So, banning smoking tobacco in Athens campus of Ohio University will not be effective for smokers for many reasons.

The problems that associate with cigarette smoking, is how it increases health risks. Smoking is by far the leading cause of lung cancer deaths in Americans, “Cigarette smoking increases the risks of cancers of the oral cavity and pharynx, larynx, lung, esophagus, pancreas, uterine cervix, kidney, bladder, stomach, colon and rectum, and liver, as well as acute myeloid leukemia” (n.p). Knowing these important health risks that associates with smoking cigarettes, should be enough to make people want to stop smoking for their own health, but worldwide men and women continue this

Firstly, people who smoke usually notice that there is a prevention sign that’s mandated by the government on every packet of cigarettes that smoking is injurious to health. Smoking causes a lot of health issues, which are very costly to treat. Many people lost their lives because they smoked. According to the article “Where there’s smoke, there’s diseases “, nearly 400,000 Americans die from smoking related diseases (p-3, Gloeckner). Smoking is a main cause of serious diseases such as chronic obstructive preliminary disease (COPD) and lung cancers. It also affects the heart. The article provides that about 136,000 American die of cancer and ninety percent of lung cancer is caused by smoking (p-1, Gloecknmer). The author provides that 115,000 Americans die from heart diseases

Since the 1950s, more than 70,000 scientific articles have left no doubt that smoking is an extraordinarily important cause of premature mortality and disability around the world. In populations where cigarette smoking has been common for several decades, about 90% of cases of lung cancer, 15–20% of cases of other cancers, 75% of cases of chronic bronchitis and emphysema and 25% of deaths from cardiovascular diseases in those 35–69 years of age are attributable to tobacco. Studies have shown that half of all long-term smokers will die of a tobacco-related disease and, of these, half will die before the age of 65.

Ever since earlier years, when cigarettes came into the market, people have had the right to make a decision of whether or not they want to smoke, but for some people, this is not a choice. This creates the problem of second-hand smoke, which is more harmful than people think. What is worse is that people who inhale second-hand smoke are doing so without consent.Therefore smoking in any public place should be banned.Second-hand smoke is just as harmful as smoking and leads to a higher prevalence of cancer and heart disease.

Lung cancer has increased within the past decade; one of the biggest reasons is that more and more people smoke now than they have in the past. Smoking causes damage not only in the lungs, but also in the body, lips, or inside the mouth. Even though smoking does harm your body there are some good things that come from smoking. Like it can lower the risk of obesity, and knee replacement surgery. There are different types of lung cancer one for smoking and the other, nonsmoking. Although people are smoking, not only are adults getting lung cancer, but kids and teens are getting it too. Lung cancer is the deadliest of all cancers and yet it is also the most preventable. While non smokers can get it, the most affected population of lung cancer could prevent the disease by not smoking, this is why smoking should be ban.

Even though this is a topic that is constantly brought up. It is also a topic that stands out to myself greatly. Being raised in a family of smokers, I first-hand know the negatives of smoking and the tragedies that it can bring. Not only does it affect the user. It truly effects those around him or her. I cannot stress this enough. At the age of six, I had lost my grandfather to lung cancer. Even though I was at such a young age, I still vividly remember the pain that my grandfather was experiencing while he was in the hospital. Every time I heard him cough, my heart would sink. From hearing his cough, one would be able to tell that his lungs were poor and were badly damaged. My grandfather would have to muster all of his strength in order to let out one wheezing cough. He was a smoker for over

On cigarette packs, it clearly states that it causes cancer still it is allowed to be sold to the public. Yet, why does it seems that many people are still smoking? Cigarettes had been smoked by humans for a lot of time. However, it causes a lot of dangerous diseases like lung cancer which can end someone’s life. Therefore, production and sales of cigarettes must be made illegal. It is a hot issue nowadays that whether there should be a total ban on production and sales of cigarettes. Most of the nonsmokers are against tobacco but some think that everybody should have the right to buy and smoke cigarettes.